The Forgotten Christmas
by Wolfi-Chan
Summary: Another Christmas is coming, and Dan is pulling Shun throguh the holdiays again. But this time, Shun spots something that triggers a memory from long ago, of a Christmas so long ago. OCs in it. Slightly SXA somewhere in there.
1. Chapter 1

Pre Author Note from Wolfi-Chan: Hey, everyone, I'm a little late with this one since I thought of it at 11 o'clock at night. I was thinking about the bakugan stories that almost always include Shun being the Scrouge of the brawlers. Suddenly I started to wonder why, then I thought of my family when we watched a Christmas movie and I asked why the kid in the movie was so sad on Christmas, and my mom replied that sometimes Christmas is very sad for some poeple because of family or seeing so many happy families when they don't have enough money for themselves. Those thoughts equaled this fanfictionm, so I hope you enjoy. I do not own bakugan, (I wouldn't be writing on Fanfiction if I did own it), only the OCs in the story.

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><p>The Forgotten Christmas<p>

Chapter 1: December 23

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><p>"<em>A smile of encouragement at the right moment may act like sunlight on a closed-up flower; it may be the turning point for a struggling life.-unknown"<em>

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><p>Shun groans as Dan and himself walks through the isle in a store to find something for the brawlers. It is December 23rd already, and Dan is running late when it comes to Christmas Gifts this year.<p>

Honestly, the ninja isn't fond of Christmas and it didn't help when Dan dragged him through the holiday every year for 7 years in counting; that could annoy anybody. At that point, Dan has gotten something for Alice and Marucho, and is currently looking for the girliest thing in the store for Julie.

Shun just watches Dan looks through various things and denies or approves with a simple "yes" or "no" to anything Dan holds up.

Suddenly a little voice starts coming closer. Shun sets his gaze to the end of the isle to see a little boy about six years old runs up to where a few toys are displayed. To Shun's surprise, a girl who is no older than ten races up to him. The boy looks up at her with dreamy eyes, before announcing as he points at the toys, "I want that for Christmas!"

The girl replies, "Which one?" The boy was still pointing and now jumping up and down,

"The robot dinosaur!" The girl glances at one of the toys he is talking about before looking down at her brother and smiling,

"Maybe if you're good, Santa will get it for you." The boy nods furiously with a broad smile. The girl raises her hand to him, "Now let's go back to Mommy and do forget to hold my hand in case you wander off." The boy nods and takes his sister's hand before the two leave, melding into the crowd and disappearing from Shun's vision.

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><p><span>Flashback<span>

I was huddled in a ball by a couple of toys on the rack in an isle, so many times had I been told to stay close and now I was lost in the abyss of people in a place called "the store". Hours seemed to go by as people passed by, not one that a three year old could recognize. "_Maybe they left without me! Was it because I was bad! Maybe they thought I was taken away! O-or maybe they were taken instead!"_ I thought.

Finally a voice called out, "Shun, were are you?" A boy of five years old with black fairly curly hair and hazel eyes came thought the crowd of people and into the isle. I jumped to my feet and ran at him, almost tackling him when I hugged him, "Shou! You found me!" I told him.

After prying me off him, he replied, "What happened this time?"

"I was staying like Mama told us to do. Then I saw a bird stuffy and left. Then the scary noise and a monster appeared. I hid here so it wouldn't get me," I spoke. Being the youngest of four had made my vocabulary stronger, but only an extra sentence or so; but I took pride in the day I joined my siblings in a game of "Tag" for the first time, along with other big kid stuff.

"Shun, it's not Halloween anymore, they're aren't any monsters..." the older boy replied.

"Yes there is!" I replied, pouting a little.

"Does this 'monster' look like a man with a sack, very fat, and wears red and white and says 'Ho Ho Ho'?" He replied.

"So you saw it!" I almost shouted.

Somehow, I had gotten it into my mind that Santa Claus was a bad monster. A year ago, my sister didn't want to go see Santa; I had always admired her because she could do somersaults now while I was mastering climbing tall stuff. Anyway, because I saw a sack and fellow kids come into this "North Pole" but couldn't see them exit made me think the reason my sister didn't want to go see him because he was a monster; my sister was smart enough to see through him!

Shou sighed and replied, "Shun...well...Oh brother..."

"I am your brother, and so is Tosho," I replied simply. Shou opened his mouth to speak but closed it with a frown and took my hand, "Come on, Tosh**i**o and R**y**oko are waiting for us," he told me, as I began to follow. He emphasized "e"s because of my issue with saying it in a word or name.

We started off to find my older brother and sister. I tightened my grip on his hand and kept close so I wouldn't get lost again. We made it up to the counter to see my big sister and brother in line with some stuff Mama asked us to buy; she hadn't been feeling good this Christmas. My big sister was six years old with straight, long light purple hair and very light blue eyes; my sister was Ryoko.

My brother was there too, he was four and had slightly straight hair, but not as curly as Shou's, with brown eyes like mine, that was Toshio.

"Tosho! Roko!" I cried out, letting go of Shou's hand and raced over to meet them.

"Shun can you say "ee"?" Toshio asked.

"Eeeee" I replied.

"Good now add it to my name; Toshiiiio," my big brother replied. I repeated easily enough that while we were waiting I was able to say "Toshio". I pulled at his arm and when he looked at me, I spoke his name. My three big brothers and sister caught this and clapped and gave my high-fives for my achievement. I was getting better everyday when it came to pronunciation.

Then I saw that there was another little boy in front of the man in front of us, older than me and was probably Shou's age. He was nervous and the only thing he had to buy was a pair of shoes. He was wearing old looking clothes and looked a little dirty even. I couldn't stop looking at him when he placed the box of shoes on the counter and pulled out very penny he had on hand. The crasher shook his head, he didn't have enough.

I tugged at my sister's arm and spoke while pointing at the boy trying to pay for his item. She looked at him and was silent for a moment. He turned to the man behind him, who shook his head. Her eyebrows curved up and she handed me five dollars, "I think we have enough extra to give it to him." I nodded and ran around the man and stopped beside the boy to reach up and place the money on the counter, since I was so small. The boy looked down at me, at first surprised. The crasher added the money and gave the boy a recite and the shoes. He placed them on the counter and hugged me, "Thank you. My Mommy is going to love them, she may meet Jesus this holiday, she's been sick or a while, and I wanted to get her something that would make her look beautiful."

He let go and I added, "My Mama is sick too but I hope yours feels better," I replied with a smile. I didn't understand that she was dying, I was too young. He looked at me and smiled back then grabbed the shoes and ran out of the store.

When we bough t our stuff we walked out, Shou and Ryoko had one hand full with a plastic bag while the other had one of our hands, Shou was holding onto Toshio's hand and Ryoko held mine. We passed a window with the same bird stuffy, I stopped at pointed at the bird, "I want that for Christmas!"

My sister, who had stopped quickly when I did, asked as she looked at the window as well, "Which one?"

"The bird stuffy!" I replied. She smiled and spoke,

"Maybe you'll get it this year."

We continued to walk on with my brothers and I smiled and added, "I just hope the monster doesn't come down the chimney."

My sister giggled, "He won't, don't worry about that."

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><p>"Hey, Shun! Earth to Shun!" Dan yells near Shun. Shun whirls around, being broken out of the memory, and faces him as he holds up a Makeup kit,<p>

"Do you think Julie will like this?" The black haired boy sighs and speaks,

"Whatever, Dan." A tear is welling up in his eyes as the raven haired boy walks away from his best friend and, when Dan couldn't see him anymore, races out of the shop. The memory had come so quickly, even thoguht it was happy there was something about it that was sad, yet it was finally revealing why he didn't enjoy Christmas, after all this time.

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><p>"<em>Adults look at how the world works, but a child looks at others around them- <em>

_Wolfi-Chan"_

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><p>So this is the beginning of the four chapter story of Christmas (Which will include Boxing Day). Shun is three in his "forbidden" memories. THe night before I had listened to "The Christmas Shoes" and I had my own memory of something like the song, so I included it. I may not get December 24th done because I will be seeing family very soon, but I wil try to get them both done, this Fanifcion is scedualed to be completed on Dember 26 at most. So expect one more chapter at least on Christmas. The story will come together, I already have it figured out. Oh, and Merry Christmas. ^^<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The Forgotten Christmas

Chapter 2: December 24

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><p>"<em>Selfishness makes Christmas a burden, love makes it a delight.<em>_- unknown"_

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><p>All the Brawlers are at the Marakura mansion, decorating. Shun has practically disappeared from the scene, the old memory had a clinging effect to him. Questions he never thought he would ever wonder has unexpectedly arisen. He has siblings, that is the most shocking fact; he has never known it yet it should've popped some other time. Then there is the sad feeling to it, what is up with that? "<em>How could I not remember my own sister and brothers!... But why do these memories specific memories decide to show up now? What is so important about Christmas, and that one of all of them and... Why do I feel so down about them?"<em>

Shun has been sitting in a dark room for a while now, trying to pry out any other memories from ten years ago. That's what the only thing that seriously matters to him at that point. Finally a knock comes at the door, but before Shun can answer, lights from the ceiling blinds him from above, which forces him to close his eyes and holds his arms in front of his face to deflect the lights.

"So this is where you've been hiding all this time?" a bubbly voice speaks. The temporarily blinded ninja lowered his arms and opens his eyes to try to adjust to the light. The door is open, revealing the bright decor that Marakura family owned. Tinsel and ribbons were everywhere, lining the walls and very edge. He would be no help in it, he had no clue when it comes to decorating for Christmas, his mother and himself didn't celebrate it because of her sickness. Dan and Julie were in the doorway, snickering at the fact he has chosen not his bedroom but a stuffy small storage closet, one of the smallest in the mansion.

"So... You wanna help decorate the rest of the place?" Dan asks. Shun stands up from a large box and quietly leaves the room speaking a simple,

"No." Seeing the decorations at every corridor and corner makes Shun feel out of place, as if something is wrong. No memory strikes yet, but it was possible that it would come soon; in fact it could be anytime now.

None the less, Julie grabs Shun's arm and tugs him towards a large room. This room was more decorated than everywhere else if that were possible. Gold, green, and red decorations of all different kinds are everywhere. What makes this room much different than any other room is the large tree near the centre. It is mostly decorated but the Brawlers were working on finishing it off. Shun just sits on a nearby couch and watches them preform the final touch to the Christmas room.

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><p><span>Younger Shun's POV<span>

I was happily playing in the snow, only Toshio was out with me. My sister and brother were inside with Mama so they could place any last minute gifts under the tree. I wished Papa was here this Christmas, but I still had Mama, Ryoko, Shou, and Toshio to spend Christmas with. I was repeating my sister's name quite a few times all yesterday and was trying to get it right by Christmas, one more day, but I couldn't get the "ee" sound to work right with the "o" sound, so I shortened to to Ryo for now during my secret training because I could already say the "ko" part, that is what she wanted for Christmas, or at least that's what I thought.

A woman opened the door that entered the snowy white backyard, "Shun, Toshio! It's time to come in!" Mama was very pretty, she had wavy purple hair, there was a bunch of hairs that just wouldn't stay down, all of us seemed to have one, and people called it a "hair antennae"

and two different coloured eyes, one brown and one blue. She was thin and very tall in my opinion.

My brother raced off, he was fast and I was making my way to the house at an okay pace, I wasn't as fast as my older siblings. My Mama helped Toshio get out of the puffy coat before he took off the other snow-wear and raced into the house. When I finally made it, my Mama had a warm smile on her face as she picked me up and placed me behind her, closing the door after she got me inside.

She helped me out of the coat, which always messed me up, then I began to pull off the rest of the gear. "Did you have fun outside?"

I replied, "Yep!"

"Good, now that you're here, Do you have any idea where your siblings are?" she asked. I nodded with a smile and ran into the house. There were some ribbons and plastic plants on the edges of various things, it looked nice, but not overdoing it either.

Mama followed me to the Family room, there was more decorations than in any other room in the house. My sister was smiling as she shook one of the boxes that came from under the tree. Toshio and Shou were arguing over something, Ryoko quickly told them to be quiet. The tree was big and I was sure I could hide under it if I wanted to. There were tinsel, lights, and garland on it, glass balls and other interesting ornaments hung on the branches. We all had decorated earlier but not that he had saw it again, he noticed there was one thing missing.

"Where is the star?" I asked. Ryoko had told me about it all month long, saying that it was the most amazing part of it. Mama replied as she crouched down to about my height, "Well, when Ryoko was three, she got to put it up, then Shou did it next year, then Toshio, so I guess..."

My eyes widened, "I get to put it on!" Shou and Toshio stopped arguing and moaned while Ryoko pouted slightly before examining the other presents. Mama smiled and nodded, going over to a small box where the ornaments were stored the years before. She opened it, revealing a big gold star, it had sparkles and shined as she placed it in my small hands. I grinned as I turned and shifted it in my hands, seeing it shimmer and twinkle in my hands. Pride surged through me, it was my turn to put it on the tree. I looked up from the dazzling object in my hands and asked,

"Can I put it anywhere?" She shook her head,

"Honey, that is very special, there is only one big star per tree and it goes on the very top. She pointed up at the tree's tip. I stared and it and eventually looked back down at the star in my hands. "_The very top, that's why it's so special! Ryoko could easily do it, Shou could too, and Toshio could put it on easier because of last year, but __**I **__get to put it on! This year __**I**__ get to put the big star on the tree! Wow!"_

I was mesmerized by the thought, it was an honour for a child to put it on the tree, and now I could. Mama got a ladder and a stepping block and she helped me up the stairs. I was nervous about this but if Toshio could do it, so could I. I took a deep breath and mustered up enough courage to continue up the big ladder and now I was standing on the final step right beside the top of the tree. I was handed the amazing star and reached out and gently held it out, my hands shaking. I held onto it and placed it on the tree.

Mama, who was on the top of the wooden stepping block beside me, plucked me off the ladder with both arms and held me as she stepped back down, when both her feet touched the wooden floor, she gently placed me on the floor. I had forgotten that Mama was right beside me the whole time.

Ryoko smiled and clapped as she watched me, her littlest brother, put the star on the tree. Toshio and Shou, who had watched me put the star on the tree for about a little bit, continued fighting over something, until Shou pushed Toshio over and the they began to fight. After a moment of wrestling, Toshio suddenly cried, "I'M DYING!" Shou jumped back, and all of us who weren't already seeing the tussle were now looking at Toshio. He was making fake gasps and holding his shoulder. After another dramatic moment, he went limp.

I raced over and crouched beside his head, and began to poke the side of his head. I leaned over more when one eye opened and then closed. Mama finally said, "No 'dying' on Christmas."

"Oka-ow!" Toshio replied, getting up too fast and we smacked our heads together. I fell down on my bottom while Toshio flopped back down on the floor, both of us had a hand where the hit had been taken.

I began to cry, Toshio soon after, he stopped quicker than me, Mama had come back over to us and asked, "Are you two alright?"

Toshio hesitated but nodded, I shook my head. "Aww.. I'm sorry that it hurt..." She put me in her arms again and sat on the couch with me in her arms until I stopped crying. She had asked if she could see my forehead and when I let her she said it was fine. When I stopped, she smiled and asked again, "Do you want me to kiss it better?" I nodded. She bent down and kissed my forehead and then straightened, "Feel better now?" I nodded again and squirmed out of her grip and stood beside my brother, eager for attention. "Good, now how about you go play with your siblings," she told me then looked at Toshio, "Toshio, I'm sorry you got hurt too...okay... You're a strong and brave boy."

My brother smiled and straightened, he was proud to be called brave and strong. When he was happy enough, he ran off, I followed behind.

About halfway down the hallway, he turned around and asked me, "Wanna help me out?"

"Sure," I replied. He grinned in a strange way then ran off saying, "Stay here."

I waited there, not being able to stay in one place. My brother came back with a pace Papa's fishing string. He gave me one end and told me, "Hide in the door of your room and I'll hide in mine. Wait for my signal to pull the string, okay?"

"Okay," I replied then we opened our doors, which were across from one another, and I followed his lead by lying down on my stomach with my hands in front of me. After a couple minutes, Toshio called, "Shou!"

After a few more minutes, running feet came down the hallway. He gave me a thumbs up suddenly, the signal. We pulled and I suddenly saw Shou, who tripped on the string and fell down. He got up and looked at us, first myself, then Toshio. He had tears in his eyes but he looked more angry, "You-...You..." He was angry now, **really **angry!

Toshio jumped to his feet and ran down the hall told me, "Run!" I followed, running as fast as I could. I turned and raced into the kitchen. I turned around to see if I was followed, but Shou wasn't there. I still raced up to the sink and opened the cupboard and hid in there, if Shou was angry, he'd go after him than me.

Foot steps came up to the to the side in the darkness. I cringed as it opened to see Mama there instead of a really angry big brother. "Why are you under the sink?" she asked me.

I replied with a scared and worried tone in my voice, "Shou's gonna kill me!" She smiled again and replied, "He's not going to kill you, come out so you can apologize."

"Okay..." I told her then got out of my hiding place. I took her hand and we headed back to the Living room. Shou was on the couch, Ryoko at his side with Toshio on the other. I came up to him with Mama at her side.

"Shun, please say sorry to Shou for hurting him," Mama instructed. I took a deep breath and said,

"Sorry..."

"And Shou, do you forgive him?" Mama asked my oldest brother.

"I forgive you," Shou replied.

"And Toshio, say sorry for tricking Shun...again," Mama asked him.

"...Sorry..." He finally said. I said I forgave him, even thought I was shocked he had put me into another prank. I was always his partner in crime.

Mama finally added something, "You three, it's Christmas. So you can you give me my present early by getting along tonight. Please, I wanna be happy too this Christmas." We all nodded in agreement. She added to Ryoko, "And Ryoko, you're doing great but remember, as the oldest, you are the example for them. So keep it up."

She grinned with the complement. Mama told us that we could go play a game with my siblings, Mama watching over us as we left to the play room. She didn't look sick at all, but I think she might've been hiding it.

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><p><span>Nobody's POV<span>

"Shun, are you okay?" asks Alice. Shun, who is looking straight on. Tears one again wells up, streaking his cheeks. He replies to Alice's question with hesitation, "I-I'm fine, Alice." He gets up and walks back to his room in the mansion, his bedroom, away from the others. He wipes his eyes as he walks through the hall, it didn't make any sense. Why was this memory feel sadder than the first one when it looked so happy; **he **looked so happy. Shun can feel under all that happiness and joy in the memory, there is sadness in it, but he didn't know why. More like he didn't know just yet.

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><p>"<em>Instead of counting the moments, make every moment last as long as you can<em>

_-unknown"_

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><p>I got the next one up! I'm sorry, I was SOOO busy yesterday and today! I went to see my relatives and none of them had Internet, and we were visiting and talking so much I barely had time! The next chapter may be done today or tomorrow, I'll try to get them done as fast as I can while doing a good job! Remember to review! ^^ Merry Christmas!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

The Forgotten Christmas

Chapter 3: December 25

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><p>"<em>A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn<em>

_-unknown"_

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><p>Shun wakes up early on Christmas morning, swiftly and silently. He really just wants it to all be over, only for the reason of the sorrowful essence that scarred the memories of years ago, leaving sadness among happiness.<p>

No newly discovered memory appears, lucky for him. The Brawlers eventually get up and they all have breakfast in the dining room. In fact, no memories came all morning. Dan and Alice seems to be talking to one another about something. Shun is practically keeping away from the Brawlers, all the activities that they have been doing seems to have trigger these haunting memories, so he has been wandering through the halls, and looking out of the windows as he keeps his distance from them; just for today.

As Shun is making his rounds, he couldn't help if Dan and the others were looking around for him. He lets the thought pass with a thought, "_I have a lot on my mind this time and I have no idea how to celebrate Christmas anymore." _During that round, he is glancing at the window when an ambulance comes by with sirens blaring. With that, a new memory takes over.

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><p><span>Younger Shun's POV<span>

I wake up with my sister tugging at my arm. She looks scared, when I sat up. She walked away from me and asked, "Can you go get dressed?" I nodded but asked as I got out of bed,

"What's going on?"

My sister looks at me, she was sad and scared, and she replied, "Y-you'll find you...o-okay?" With that, she ran out, closing the door behind her. I can hear her sobs in the hallway. I still don't know what is going on, but I get dressed. And when I got out, she is in a huddled position against the wall, she was crying, but stopped when I opened the door. She gets up and takes my hand before leading me outside.

I see Toshio and Shou in a police car, I stop suddenly, making her stop as well. Ryoko looks back at me and while I look up at her with confusion, I ask, "Roko, what's going on?"

She give me the answer I want, she just says, "I'll tell you later. Right now we have to go."

The car ride is long, the police man tells us this was the least he could do for them, that he was around when "it" happened. I am even more confused, what's "It"? I continued to ask my siblings questions. Shou and Toshio would shrug their shoulders or say "I don't know".

Shou was the one to say, "Ryoko woke us all up, she knows."

I turned my attention to my sister and began to ask so many questions, one especially made her twitch, "Where's Mama?" It didn't matter what I did, she wouldn't speak a word. You could see she was struggling to keep her hold on her emotions. Finally, we make it to our destination; the hospital.

After getting something to eat,We wait for hours, I follow my brothers as they paced around the hallway, switching from Shou and Toshio every now and then. Moments ago, Ryoko had interrupted Shou's pace by taking his arm and marching around a corner. I hear Shou shout, "NO! I-It's a lie! Your a LIAR!" I hear him yelp then I hear Ryoko speak a few sentences, "I-I don't want you to be mad at me... Shou, I-I...I'm scared... And I-I'm sorry..." She was crying again, sobbing.

When they both come out, Shou has a shocked look on his face; Ryoko had told him what was going on. I wanted to know **so** badly now! "_Why won't she say?"_ I think. I look back at her as she sits down, she tries to not to cry, but she lets out sobs and tears as what feels like hours go by.

I remember her saying she was scared, and she rarely cried; especially on Christmas, her and Mama loved Christmas so much. They were singing happily and looking forward for Christmas on when December first came. Now I was scared, if Ryoko, the bravest one of us, was scared, it must be bad. That repeats in my head, _"It's bad...it's bad...it's bad..." _My thoughts break that one small sentence with, "_But it's Christmas!"_

After what felt like months, a man came up to the four of us and asks, "Which one of you phoned 911?"

Ryoko gets out of her seat immediately and walks up to the man, who in turn nods, "I hear you were the oldest of Hikari's children... It makes sense you phoned... Well... please come with me for a moment..."

My sister, who is standing tall, even with the bad things that had happened in her mind, with strength and bravery to face it. At first we stop our pacing and watch them leave our sight before we continue what we were doing before.

It feels like hours fly by until Ryoko comes back with a woman. Ryoko doesn't try to hide her crying or the disbelief in her eyes, she just simply says, "We have to go, Mama's not coming back..."

I followed them, but I felt like I was seeing a screen, like I wasn't holding my sister's hand tightly as we walked over to a car with some words on the side and got into it and the woman began to drive off; I was shocked. "_Where did Mama go? Was she looking for Papa? Or...or...or did she hate us?...Was it because Toshio and me tripped Shou last night! But we all said we were sorry!"_

When we stopped the car, I looked out see a house that looked very crowded at that point. We were all looking out the window to see as the woman explained as she parked, "You see, your Mother had no will, so you are sent here to be adopted by another loving family. During Christmas, we have a special event so kids can be adopted easier. We already have your papers and files all ready for adoption."

We were all looked at her and each other when she said that. I held my sister hand like whenever Mama's not around because I am scared or nervous. When we enter, adults look at us as we step in. "_I don't like this_," I thought, "_THIS CAN'TBE HAPPENING!"_ With that, I ran away, the crowd made me unable to see my sister. She raced out of the crowd, in the same hallway as me, my brothers following. She catches up and tries to hold my hand, "Shun I know i-!"When she catches hold of me, I whirl around and struggle to get my arm out of her grip,

"NO! They're lying, Mama's looking for us!"

"S-Shun, I know it feels li-" she starts but I interrupted again,

"No...They're liars!...YOU'RE A LIAR! J-Just leave me alone!"

"Shun, please..." Ryoko is trying hard to get a sentence out, but I continue to interrupt,

"NO!" I shout as I stomp my foot, anger welling up, "You're a good-for-nothing liar! I don't want to talk or be near a liar! Just leave me ALONE!"

Ryoko looks at me with surprise, and her grip loosens enough for me to run. Just see a glimpse of grief and shock in her eyes as tears flow down her cheeks. I run off down the hall and rush into an almost empty room where I hide behind a couple boxes. I stay there and just cry.

I kept on thinking of the sadness in Ryoko's eyes._ "I made her sad...on her favourite day in the whole year...I made my big sister cry..." _I walk out of the room to see kids and adults that worked in this place. I follow them to what seems to be the dining room. I eat along side all the other kids, it must be supper, but I am constantly looking for my sister and brothers; there are few kids left, and not one of my siblings are there.

When the adults herd us to bed, one directs me to my bed, which his a bunk bed, I look to see a wrapped up box on the bed. The woman looks and me and takes the paper on top of it, I listen as she speaks the words I can't read yet.

"Shun.. I'm sorry you feel that way... I'm sorry I had to hide it all from you, but the adults thought it would be too much for you and even Toshio. I was scared too, I wanted Mama back just as badly. I just want to say I'm sorry for all the pain I have given you... I think I may be a bad sister for that... I'm sorry for leaving you without at least saying goodbye... I wanna say I'm... sorry for being a bad sister... I... hit Shou today... I feel really bad... I do not think I deserve to be a sister anymore... But still, I want you to have this. Mama and I wanted you to have this... I just... hope that you forgive me... Ryoko..." The woman looks at the letter with disbelief, I couldn't help but wonder if the breaks were actually in the letter or that the woman was making them.

She leaves me alone so I can unwrap the gift alone. It's a container that been painted over. After getting off the green lid. I looked down and pick up the toy; it was the stuffed bird from the shop. "_Ryoko and Mama got this for me...And Ryoko thinks I don't liker her anymore, Shou and Toshio must've been adopted by separate families...And I am all alone.."_ In the empty room, I hug the toy and cry for hours and hours, I stayed up really late that night. Only one thing going through my head, _"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."_

* * *

><p>The memory fades away again, Shun is left at the window with the reason why. Why every year he always felt something wrong, usually he thought it was because it was childlike and stupid, now he knew another reason. His mother had most likely passed away from the sickness she tried to hide to the best of her abilities, his father had gone away, he had said with such anger towards his sister that he made her cry, all of them got adopted; leaving him alone on Christmas.<p>

He sneaks out of the mansion and swiftly heads for his house. When he gets there and heads inside, not wanting his Grandfather to see the emotional pain that is slowly making its way back. Finally he finds the locked room, he gets the key and opens it. This used to be his mother's room when she was little, so Shun's grandfather has put everything that once belonged to her into that room.

He looks through box after box until he finally sees the object he's looking for. He tries quietly to shift things away from it and gently holds up up from the box. The bird stuffy looks old, ruffled up fur on the plush that no longer holds smoothly like in his memory, but sticks out in all direction. One eye looks like it may pop out. The bird is an eagle falcon,but even in its condition, Shun feels happy to see it again. This was proof his memories were real. He hugs it gently before hiding it in his jacket and heading back to the Marakura mansion.

For the rest of the day, no matter how much the Brawlers tried to coax him out, Shun shuts himself in his room. The plush on the pillow beside him as he sits on the bed. As the day ends, Shun is still wide awake, looking through the memories of so long ago. The most saddest part to him was to speak to Ryoko with so much anger in his voice, to make her cry and think she was a bad sister to him, even still she snuck the present she knew he would love and kept it by her side and got it to him. She still cared for him no matter what. Toshio and Shou probably felt the same way but they were never ther kind of kids to be able to say it while everything was going on, that or they were too stubborn. Shun had been so shocked back then, he didn't even notice.

Even when the last moment they had together was a bad one, she had loved him. She had loved him when she left without saying goodbye, she had loved him when he was trying to pry out the answers from her, she loved him even when he said those words to her; the proof was with this bird plush.

"_She wasn't a bad older sister...I was a bad younger bother.."_ Shun thinks. Tears begin again, welling up in his eyes then flowing down his cheeks. He looks over at the bird and picks it up and stares at it as best he can while he holds it in front of him. He murmurs one thing, "Merry Christmas, Ryoko."

* * *

><p>"<em>Don't be sad that's over, be happy it happened, be happy for the time you had; both good and bad<em>

_-unknown"_

* * *

><p>Okay, I'll admit that I was crying as I was thinking and writing the story. This memory was more fuzzy because it was the reason the rest disappeared with it, otherwise the memory would get triggered. It's like a memory you try to forget, but it's still there...*sniffle*... I've got ONE MORE CHAPTER thought! That's something to be happy about! :)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

The Forgotten Christmas

Chapter 4: December 26

* * *

><p>"<em>Sadness flies away on the wings of time<em>

_-Jean de La Fontaine"_

* * *

><p>Shun woke up at about seven, he was lying on his side with his arms encircling the plush. It is the last memento of his family, that holiday, and what he used to know. The ninja sits up and gives another look at it. It was special to him, before and now. It would usually feel strange for him to be holding onto to such an object that only a child would hold for comfort, but this toy was more like a symbol than anything else. The boy stands and finally gets onto his two feet.<p>

* * *

><p>At about eight, the brawlers can easily see that Shun still hadn't left his room. Everyone is getting nervous, Shun is usually the first to wake up, not the last. All of them are confused by this. Alice couldn't help but wonder what is wrong, this may had been their first Christmas together but on December 24th Shun's sad expression as he looked straight in a dazed look, not looking at anything in particular. Alice knows that isn't like him, something is wrong here. Before Alice could speak to the boy who knew Shun the longest, Dan, Runo announced, "Geez, We expect Dan to sleep late but not Shun; I'm waking him up!"<p>

That being said, Runo marched onwards to the hallway. She bangs on the door shouting, "Shun, I'm coming in, right NOW!" After waiting a few minutes, she counts to three before bashing at the door, it opens easily enough. The remaining Brawlers, who had followed Runo, all make their way into the room. There is no sign that he is here; none. As the Brawlers spread out and look for him in the room, since he was a ninja and could've been hiding so they would all just exit. As Alice looks she seeing something under the bed that reflects the light from the hallway.

The red head crouches down and pulls out something she would've never expected to find in Shun's room. It is a eagle falcon plush, and an old one at that. Why would Shun have it in his room? Alice asks after getting Dan's attention, "Dan, have you seen this anywhere before?"

Dan examines the plush before shaking his head, "Never. Where did you find it anyway?"

"Under the bed," Alice replies. Dan looks at Alice with wide and confused eyes,

"Seriously!... Are we talking about the same guy here?"

Alice nods, "It was right here in the room...but it looks really old and in an okay condition, it's been through a lot..."

At that moment Julie approaches them to see what they are looking at. She looks at the bird in Alice's hands and adds, "It would be so cute if it wasn't so old looking." Julie was ignored since Dan is silent for a moment, looking at the toy, before speaking, "Well... Shun could tell us... So I'm guessing the next best place to look next is at his place."

* * *

><p>Shun walks through the park quietly. The snow is beginning to fall, it was the first snowfall of the year. It was very close to being a white Christmas this year. Still Shun walks through the fairly quiet place. It is nice to not be stuck in a room for hours and hours and be able to just get outside. But it also would help him calm down too. "<em>All this time I've had this issue over the holidays, and all it took was seeing a pair of siblings..."<em> he thinks. He glances down at his right hand, the exact one that Ryoko always held, that his mother held the night before she was put in the hospital. He looks away quickly and tries to focus on something else. As he continues to wander around and tries to distract himself, he sees a boy and his mother holding hands as they walk down the sidewalk.

* * *

><p>When the Brawlers arrive at the Kazami Dojo, Dan is the one to lead the way. This was decided because he was the leader and probably knew the place most, but also so the Brawlers could see if Dan would make a mistake and they could not get hit by it.<p>

Alice is at the back, thinking of the question she had asked on December 24th , she had asked if Shun always acted like that around the holidays. Seeing him space out and crying wasn't like him at all, and it seemed like something was bothering him. Dan had replied as honestly as he usually did, "I've tried to get Shun into the Christmas spirit every year, but I gotta say, he doesn't act like that all, this is the first time seeing him like this during the holidays."

As the group progresses, Dan surprisingly being focused and clever. It seemed that nobody was there either. That's when Dan sees something he hadn't really taken notice of before, a door that had a lock over it, but now it was unlocked and slightly open.

After some hesitation, curiosity clings onto Dan and the teen walks in. The room is dark and a little dusty. There are boxes in the closet and scattered around the room. Turning on the lights, Dan sees something nearby one of the opened boxes, some kind of piece of paper. He walks over, assuming it's safe, and picks it up. He reads the letters and can only say two words, "No way..." Marucho, who was closest to Dan, pulls his arm down so he can see. After getting only a glimpse, Marucho is looking at it with a shocked look on his face.

* * *

><p><span>Younger Shun's POV<span>

I have been keeping silent and away form the other kids as much as I can. I just stay in the corner and if any kid asked me to play, I would just deny it. I was really missing them now, I wanted to take back what I said, I wanted to make Ryoko happy. I was too late now, she was gone; and she could never come back. Later on, a woman came in, she looked really close to Mama. She had the same figure as Mama and the same hair colour too, but she had straight hair instead of wavy hair.

I watched her head off to the office then leave after a couple hours. The caretaker comes and told me, "Shun, can you come with me? There's someone that really wants to meet you, if fact, she wants to adopt you."

I look up at the woman but I was quiet. I was holding the plush in my arms, I hadn't left it for one moment, as I got up and did as the woman told me to.

I walked into the formal looking office to see the woman from before in the chair. She had a warm smile, just like Mama. "This is Mrs. Kazami, she will be your new parent." All I can do is stare at her, the resemblance is shocking yet I know I don't have any Aunties on Mama's side of the family. She continues to smile and stands up from her chair before holding out her hand. I hesitate but take her hand. She had the same motherly feeling like Mama too. She leads me out of the office and the orphanage. She helps me into the car before driving off, a folder at her side.

I meet my new Grandpa a week later, he belongs to a ninja clan, which is kinda cool. I saw him a couple times a year, and as the year passes by, I forget about the toy. Whenever I see siblings wrestling I wonder why I feel that there is something missing deep down, tugging at my heart.

When I am five and I have started to call Mama "Mom" now, Mom and I have shared so many good times. She may be ill, but she's my mom. Then there's that toy, I don't know where it came from but I begin to cry uncontrollably when I'm near it; like there is something wrong. I can remember back to when I was four, the day after the toy had disappeared into a box of things Mom wanted to keep. I kept having these strange memories come up and seem to torture me, but they get fuzzier and quickly fade and soon I have no clue they even existed. I am Shun Kazami, the only child of Shiori Kazami.

* * *

><p>As the memory comes back to Shun, he begins to feel deeply ashamed of what he has done. His mother was named Hikari, not Shiori, Shiori was a woman that adopted him, and gave him lots of love and good memories. Hikari did the same, but she gave birth to him. Worst of all, he forgot his siblings, his own family had been ripped out of his memory and hidden from him. He walks over to the nearest tree and sits down, leaning his back against the bark. "<em>How could I forget my own birth mother? How could I forget my own siblings?"<em> Sun thinks then beginning to beat himself up mentally.

* * *

><p>Seeing Dan and Marucho frozen there, the others come to check it out. They see a younger version of Shun on the side of a certificate, and not just any certificate, but an Adoption Certificate. Runo shakes her head, "Dan, you didn't know about this!"<p>

Dan looks at her with an angered facial expression, "No, I didn't, but Shun never mentioned anything about this either, Okay!"

Marucho stammers, "S-so if Shun's mom really isn't his actual parent, who was?" Dan looks at the date and points at it,

"Guys, take a look..." The date on when he was adopted is clear to read, December 26th. Everyone is silent, Shun was an orphan on Christmas. Dan shakes his head, his hand quivering, "So that's why?... I-I never knew..."

Alice puts her hand on Dan's shoulder, "It's okay, Dan. You didn't know." He looks back at the Russian girl and replies,

"Thanks, Alice." With that the Brawlers leave with the second clue and disperse to find Shun Kazami.

As Alice and Dan race down the sidewalk, weaving around other people who wanted to get a discount on some stuff. Just minutes before, Alice had suggested the park would be another good place to look. As they continue on, Dan is looking in all directions to see if he could find his best friend. Unfortunately, Dan was looking everywhere but where he was going. Alice could hear an "Oof!" and turned around to see Dan on the cold cement sidewalk and a girl older than both of them who had stayed on her feet. When Dan looks up at her, he shouts, "Hey, wa-!"

The girl stands up, she is tall and quite pretty, but that was not what Dan was thinking, he was looking at the purple hair that has fallen down from being tucked into a hat, which was lying on the ground now, her eyes are an icy shade of blue. The most scariest thing was not that she looked like Shun's adoptive Mom but Shun as well. Alice is also shocked about the resemblance to Shun; except for the hair and eye colour, she was a taller, older, feminine version of Shun.

The older girl sighs as Dan looks at her with wide eyes and picks up the cap and disappears into the crowd calmly.

Dan stays on the ground for another moment before he gets up and brushes himself off. Both of them ignore the strange happening and continue on to the park.

Alice and Dan finally come to the park and begin to look around. After five minutes of looking, Alice catches a glimpse of a figure under the tree. She walks over and asks, "Shun?" The boy responds by looking up at her, some snowflakes sparkling in his hair as he makes movement. The orange haired girl doesn't know what to really what to say, did he know he was adopted? She just takes that she has hidden in her jacket and holds it out for Shun to see.

A surprised expression appears but it quickly becomes a solemn look as he speaks, "Where did you find that?"

"In your room..." Alice replies. Shun lets out a sigh and looks down at the ground in front of him, he remains silent. Alice then asks,

"Is it yours?" Shun remains silent, shuffling a little bit, Alice then sits down beside him, then she takes his hand. He blushes slightly, but quickly hides it then he looks at her, his eyes looked like he is struggling to say the right words, but sadness and shame sparkles within the amber orbs as well, he looks back down at the snow dusted ground then replies,

"It was a gift..."

"From who?" Alice asks. More silence appears, to Alice it seems Shun may be right beside her but his mind was far away, he speaks again, "My mother... m-my real one..."

His voice has sadness in it, Alice can't believe that Shun is stammering with his words. Dan races up and looks at the two before sitting on the other side of Shun. The ninja looks at both of them, struggling with the decision to say it or walk away. Dan then speaks, "Shun, we know about the adoption thing..." He gives the brown haired teen a stare, waiting for answers. "We found it at your place, there was... just...here..." Dan speaks, not really knowing what to say about that; if it were him he'd be in a frenzy and desperate to find his real parents. He holds out the paper, Shun takes it from his hand and looks it over.

He lets it drop onto the snow, Alice quickly picking it up so it wouldn't get ruined. After collecting it, she looks up to see Shun hugging his knees slightly and burying his head in his arms. Dan pats in on the shoulder, a worried expression on his face. Shun is slowly loosing his cool. To Alice, he wasn't the strong and rough ninja that had expressions like a stone, right now he was a teen going through a rough time. The plush and certificate had something to do with it; he was simply being haunted by his past.

"Shun's what wrong?" Alice finally asked. Shun barely moves, but there is a trance of a flinch. He speaks again with no tone, "Nothing..."

"Shun, we know something is wrong with you, even Dan knows it. Can you just tell Dan and I, please?" Alice asks politely. Shun looks up and after another short period of silence, he speaks. As he reflects on it, skipping the fear of Santa for the sake of Dan teasing him about it for eternity, sometimes he buries his head in his arms and sometimes he's looking forward.

By the end of it, Shun was on the verge of tears again, Alice is trying her best not to cry and Dan was looking at his best friend with sad eyes. Waves of sadness washed over him as he recalled the memories. He silently thinks, "_Why do I have to be so weak about this! I'm not a little kid anymore... Geez, what the heck is wrong with me!"_ Shun begins to mentally beat himself up again, Alice and Dan unaware of it. Dan is comfortingly patting him on the back, trying to calm him down. Anyone could see that he was having some anxiety issues.

"So you had repressed amnesia?" Alice asks again. Shun is silent before asking,

"What?"

"It's when your mind blocks off a memory, your mind takes care of the most recent traumatic memories and is hard to recall those memories your mind as stored because of the defence in your mind, so it makes sure it's not easily triggers by taking care of other memories relating to it. It happens during a stressful time," Alice explains. Shun looks up again and nods. Dan begins to speak next,

"Shun, I really can't say I feel the same way... Or even that I've been through something like that... I never really even knew, and it sounds like you were no closer than I was. Well, the thing is...geez, um..."

Shun rolls his eyes, Dan had nothing but his two sense. Alice adds in her own input,

"Shun, we know it hast to be hard for you, memories usually carry on feelings like joy and sorrow. Every time I go through something hard, something good always comes next. I figured out I was Masquerade but then I helped Dan out in Vestoria through Masquerade's power."

"She's right," Dan replies, "Life gives us ups and down, but no matter how bad they are, something good is gonna come out of it or come next."

Shun lifts his head and looks at each of them, both nodding when his eyes met theirs. "_Could they really be right?"_ he thinks. Dan started giving more examples, like they would've never met when they were younger if Shiori wasn't his mother at the time, and she had been a great mother none the less; adopted or not.

Finally something in Alice's mind clicks, she quickly stands up, "Shun, you said you had an old sister, right? What does she look like!"

Shun nods, "When she was six, she had light purple hair and light blue eyes, almost icy." Alice and Dan exchange stunned looks, Shun looks at them. _"What was going on with them,"_ Shun wonders.

When Dan finally understands what Alice is trying to figure out he blurts it out as he gets to his feet, "I might've bumped right into Shun's older sister!"

Shun quickly got up, grabbing onto Dan's arm, "Are you sure she looked like me?"

Dan gives his answer, "She had the same hair style, except her hair was down, she has the same kind of eyes but her hair and eyes are exactly like what you said, the only difference is, she is a girl so..."

"Dan, you finish that sentence and you'll be in serious trouble..." Shun replied lowly, not happy to hear the next part of the younger teen's words.

"O-okay, Shun..." Dan replied.

"Whatever, where did you see her!" Shun asks them, there is surprised look in his expression but also a bit of desperation to find her again. The two nodded and with that the three brawlers were off to find what may just be the person from Shun's past.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Julie, Runo, and Marucho haven't heard from Dan or Alice that they have found Shun yet. There were near the airport, checking some of the places people don't normally go to.<p>

Usually, Julie would be at the mall going after that amazing pair of shoes on sale, but finding her friend was more important to the most trendy clothes, and this was coming from the Brawler's city girl who could've gotten a degree in shopping sprees if there were such a thing.

Some people were whispering about someone at that time, all staring at a man wearing ripped up clothes in army wear. There are bandages over his hands and a couple scars on his face. Despite that, he looks about in his late thirties, quite young. His skin is light while his hair is night black and straight. His hands, even though they are bandaged, look strong. He is the only man there, no other soldiers are present but him.

He melded back into the crowd and as he passed the three kids, bumped into Runo, he turned around and apologizes before heading off. Marucho catches a small piece of paper drift down and land on the sidewalk. He walks over to it before bending over and picking it up. There is a corner of it and most of the edges that has been burned away, but most of it is in tact. It looks like the man's family, a wife and four kids that he had left to go to the army for service.

Marucho races through the crowd and eventually finds the man again. "Excuse me, sir," Marucho says, the man turns and points at himself. Marucho nods and holds out the picture, the man takes it back and looks at it once before placing it back in his pocket, his hands are shaking as he does.

"Thank you," he says before leaving again, this time none of the brawlers goes after him. Marucho heads back to the other brawlers. Julie asks, "Who was that man?"

"I don't really know," Marucho replies.

* * *

><p>Dan can't believe this was happening, they had encountered Shun's sister no farther than a few blocks away from the park, that's how far they were from meeting again; yet they were so far away from it. <em>"How happy would Shun be if he finds his older sister again, or even better, all of his siblings?"<em> Dan and Alice think the exact same concept, Shun is looking through so many crowds they can barely see where he is going.

Runo, Marucho, and Julie eventually get a call from Alice, they can hear the hustle and bustle of the city, but Alice's soft voice stands out. She explains where they are, where they found Shun and what he told them, and what was going on now.

Soon, Runo and Marucho meet up with them, Julie comes back pouting. Alice asks, "What's wrong, Julie?"

"Well, there was is cute guy and even when I asked him some things about himself, he left saying he had to meet someone! How rude!" Marucho face palms then, after explaining what to do next, they all begin to look for Shun again, who has disappeared into the crowd.

The streets begin to separate as Shun wanders through the crowd, he sees another park in front of him, it's about six miles from the hospital. Runo is able to spot him alone in the small park, and with that they come up to him. He turns around and shakes his head, "None of them are here and even if you did she's long gone now."

Alice approaches the boy again takes his hand again, the boy looks at her, for a few days it felt like he was alone in the world, but seeing them here makes him feel that maybe that was just a trick of his mind.

Dan is staring at something, one by one the brawlers notice it, even Alice begins to stare behind him. She lets go of his hand so he can turn around towards the disturbance. A teen a year older, and a little taller taller as well.

Shun looks up at him with disbelief, he has the same mischievous amber eyes as the brother in his memories. His hair is slightly straight and black, but it curves and a couple stick out, making it look messy. "Hey, is your name Shun and are you thirteen years old? Of course, I'm just throwing that-"

"...Toshio?" Shun asks, stunned at the question. The boy grins,

"If you're the same kid that was my partner in crime 10 years back, then yep, I'd say I'm that guy."

"The last prank you pulled was tripping Shou with fishing string..." Shun speaks, trying to hold back any emotions. The boy then takes his hand and ruffles up Shun's shimmering black hair.

"Nice to see you again, Shun. It's been a long while," Toshio speaks. Shun nods and lowers his head, he begins to think, "_Is this some kind of cruel dream or...is it real?"_ Shun's thoughts are broken by Toshio's voice, "Are you crying?"

Shun looks up and stares at him, "No." The fourteen year old laughs before speaking again, "Wow, you really must be Shun, you were gullible with some things but others you were as stubborn as a bull. Guess it runs in the family." Shun's solemn expression breaks as begins to smile and even chuckle to the comment. The two begin to walk a little farther away to disgust their pasts.

As the female brawlers are smiling and trying not to cry from the happy moment, even if Julie realizes the boy that was being so rude was Toshio. Marucho and Dan are smiling, happy for Shun to actually find his older brother again. Everyone was quiet so they could hear.

"What happened to you?" Shun asks his newly found brother.

"I was adopted of course and was mischievous as usual. After a couple years, they realized I had a weird way of getting out of stuff, like escape artist do. They began to treat me a little different and I soon figured out they were tricking me to steal stuff for them. They were real for only a year, I've been running around to keep away from them at twelves years old. That's just a summary thought," Toshio reflected.

"Wow... So they suddenly turned on you just like that?" Shun asks.

Toshio shrugs, "They went to jail for it after the police came up, I wasn't around to see it though. When bad stuff happens or tempting things come up, you either take it or leave it; they took it and I wanted no part. It wasn't easy but a lot of good things can come out of it. But what about you?"

Shun begins with the first fact, "Well, I'm being trained to be a ninja-"

Suddenly another comes up that begins to approach, "Wait a minute, so Toshio, the loudest person I know, can sneak up on the ninja known as my little brother? I think that's a sign the world is gonna end soon."

The two look to their right side to see two more figures, one is a boy with fairly short curly black hair with clever but serious hazel eyes, a little bit taller than Shou and also about a year older, he has the same shaped face as the brother's. The girl that Dan bumped into before is beside him replying to his comment,

"Shou, you're starting to sound like Toshio... Besides, mistakes are made all the time."

Shou looks at her then replies a short and slightly angered, "Whatever.." The girl just shakes her head with a small grin on her face. Shun races up to them, Toshio just walks behind.

"Are you...who I think you are?" he asks, surprised at the thought of the four of them together. Shou replies, "If you know Toshio last idiot prank, well... It's awesome to see you again."

"Couldn't say that any better," the girl simply adds. They all begin to talk, the others observing can hear bits and pieces.

They are who Shun thinks they are, Shou and Ryoko. Shou had a good life, but eventually his adoptive father got murdered by a terrorist attack, and this year his mother had been killed in a car accident. He met Toshio and Ryoko again, who had reunited a year before, shortly after.

Ryoko never accepted her adoptive parents, any one of them, she had broken many hearts, she was abandoned and fostered several times before their uncle heard of this. He took custody of her and he liked to drink He would abuse her physically all the time, but she never backed down once to an assault. She eventually had enough and ran away, but luckily she left with only scars and memories, nothing had been taken from her, including her pride.

The brawlers could see her take off her scarf to reveal some small cuts that are beginning to fade away, she told them it was from being cornered and bashed by a glass bottle, she had to pluck out the shards of glass herself. Shun began his story.

When his ended, they began to talk about how much they missed him and how big he was and all kinds of things, Shun adding things as well. It was the most They all stopped talking for Ryoko to say one phase, "Even thought I haven't been there through your adoptive Mom's death or helped you with your grandpa's training, but I can say I still love you, Shun, and I've never stopped wondering about your happiness. I hope you can forgive me for being such a bad sister to you."

"Same with me, I may have never really shown it, but I think I kinda showed I cared by looking for you when you got lost in the stores," Shou added, "I still cared and loved you as a brother... What the heck, when we were separated, I really missed you, all of you, I even started to miss you and Toshio pulling pranks on me."

"No way!" Toshio adds, "So you **did** miss me and my pranks aren't as idiotic as you say!"

"Did you just admit your pranks were idiotic?" Shou replies with a smirk on his face. "_So that's were Shun was able to learn about staying one step ahead.."_ Dan thinks.

"What!... N-no... Whatever!" Toshio shouts the last part after a small pause. "Anyway, I gotta say that I agree with Shou; and that's about as rare as it gets. I really did miss you and I really enjoyed the pranks we used to pull... Even if I did trick you into it... I guess joking around and hanging out with you was the only way I showed I cared, still didn't mean I didn't love you like Ryoko and Shou."

Hearing the words, Shun's shoulders begin to shake, he lowers his head and finally the tears begin. Ryoko smiled with her eyebrows curled up slightly, she draws him into a hug, "I'll never stop trying to be a good sister to you, you deserve it." That just ends up with hearing sobs from Shun, his brothers hug both their older sister and younger brother, and rub Shun's back comfortingly.

Alice could just see the tears coming from their own eyes, even the girl who had to face their cruel uncle. Through sobs, Shun apologizes, "I-I'm sor-ry for b-being su..ch a bad b-brother to you..."

"Hey... you were three, three year olds do that, I think... I think we were both a little too hard on ourselves..." Ryoko replies. Shun nods and the four finally let go of one another. Toshio is cringe almost uncontrollably. Shou raises an eyebrow,

"I never knew you were **this** emotional, Toshio," Shou tells him. Toshio tries his best to glare and snaps, "I am not!"

"Yeah right..." Shou adds sarcastically. The brawlers watch them argue as Ryoko asks if Shun was done crying. It had been the first time the brawlers had seen Shun cry like that, even Dan could say he'd never seen this from Shun; because the only time Dan saw him like that was when his mother died but this time was different, he was crying for joy, not sorrow.

Shun wipes the rest of his remaining tears away then asks, "Why are you here?"

Ryoko grins, "Well... back when I was with our Uncle, when I wasn't home there was a message to talk to his brother, our Dad, about Mom waking up, they said her body wasn't reacting well with the current method either, and her brother had insisted on trying another for the sake of her being healthy again. They said she went back into a coma shortly after the next one, but she seemed to be strong enough that she may wake up again, thought it seems to waver from day to day. I guess she's been doing that year after year, sometimes she'd be up for an hour, some for a week."

"Wait, you said that she wasn't alive anymore..." Shun adds.

Ryoko shakes her head, "No, they said that to me, but I think they thought she was dying, then she started to get stronger. She came back packing, it kinda makes sense because she had us a year apart, not to mention if it was difficult or not. Mom was never the kind to ever give up on things easily."

"B-but what's so significant about this year," Shun asks, another discovery he wouldn't have known about even with memories.

Ryoko grins, "Because this year, I found out from talking to our Uncle, on your mother's side, on E-mail when I found it that it finally worked... They found something what helped her condition enough that they say she is healthy again."

"Sh-She's awake," Shun asks. Ryoko nods. That is when Marucho, upon hearing that, comes up and asks them, "We can ride there, I have a limo that can pick us up."

* * *

><p>The group gets to the hospital after Kato picks them up from the small park. They all find the hall where the man from before is pacing. Runo murmurs, "The man from before..."<p>

Ryoko reacts much different, she looks stunned then runs right at him. He takes the tackle well and put her down on her feet before examining her. "Ryoko!" he gasps.

She smiles and nods before she hugs him, "Father..." She begins to cry again, the man only hugs her in return and remains silent. The scarf has fallen off and her father sees the marks.

"Ryoko, where did you get those?..." he asks solemnly but nicely.

"Your brother..." the oldest of the four replies. The man curses under his breath, not it is too quiet to be heard. The other three approach, Ryoko releases him and he does the same. They all hug and exchange their stories once again.

According to him, for seven years he had been in war, he couldn't go back when he heard about his wife dying, which she never had, then he was able to leave because of his age and not wanting to continue the service. After living alone for two years, he had finally caught word by the hospital she was recently transferred to, that she was awake, and she had passed all her tests with flying colours. So he came here, he had got off the airport recently.

When families and friends are allowed access, the four walk in, the others wait at the door. The woman looks quite pretty, and is about in the thirties as well, her hetrochromatic eyes look gentle and sweet. Her wavy purple hair is tied in a ponytail, a wave of locks of long hair. She smiles and the four progress. She begins to talk about how long it's been and how sorry she is for getting so sick when they were so young.

They say they forgive her, even thought it wasn't her fault for getting sick. After each one says there words, the older three wait by their father who refuses to leave her, not after what has happened in the past. Shun still hadn't said anything yet. He sat down in the chair beside the bed, but before he could say anything, she says something first, "Shun... My little boy... How have you been doing? You're thirteen now, my does the time do by."

Shun looks at her and nods, "Yeah... I'm doing good." Alice and the rest smile as Shun slowly gets comfortable to talk to her. At one point, she even considered Shiori as a sister for helping raise him. They began to talk about different times, Dan soon approached and began to tell some more, he looks over to see a few tears streak Shun's cheek yet he is smiling. Shun's father had an arm wrapped around his only daughter, while Shou and Toshio grin and watch, sometimes exchanging glances.

One thing was clear, there was a bright future for this family; all because of both memories and friends.

* * *

><p>"<em>The love of a family is life's greatest blessing<em>

_-unknown"_

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><p>"<em>Do you feel cold and lost in desperation, you build up hope, but sadness is all you've known, remember all the sadness and frustration, and let it go<em>

_-Iridescent, Linkin Park"_

* * *

><p>"<em>If hate makes war, and grief makes death, but love makes peace and miracles<em>

_-Wolfi-Chan"_

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><p>Finally finished, I hoped you like it. I love happy endings, but who serious doesn't. I must say I loved this happy ending. And I must also say I enjoyed writing it.<p>

One thing that wasn't mentioned was that Shiori actually had a child but it passed away, she got sick, with a decease, during that time, after loosing the child and grieving, she decided to adopt a child, and I think you guys understand the rest, if I missed something PM me please. Also Jazzmonkey, thank you for the reviews, that inspired me to write even more and work even harder. I almost made the date, but it was just one day late, which I'm not proud of, but at least it is one more less than two days. Again, I hope you all enjoyed it.

For once I can say, thank you for reading it all. Wolfi-Chan, out! :3


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